Recherche de nouveaux phénomènes dans les événements diphoton avec le détecteur ATLAS

In this thesis, I describe my research based on proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector. The study uses events with at least two photons in the final state and a large invariant mass of the diphoton system. A dataset of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 fb-1 has been recorded in 2011. This sample has been compared to the predictions of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. Given the good agreement of the data with these predictions, limits have been set on the parameters of models that postulate extra spatial dimensions. As an example, the lightest Kaluza-Klein graviton in the Randall-Sundrum model has been constrained to be more massive than 2.23 TeV, superseding the Tevatron limits by approximately 1 TeV. These results have been published by the ATLAS collaboration. In 2012, the LHC has delivered proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The corresponding integrated luminosity is four times larger than that of the 2011 dataset. Preliminary results based on this dataset are presented in this document. The ATLAS-internal review of these results is ongoing, and a publication is targeted for 2013. The detection and the characterization of electrons and photons are mainly based on the liquid argon calorimeter of the ATLAS detector. A procedure to assess the quality of the measurements of these particles has been established at the beginning of the data taking. My contributions to its development are described in this document.